Yale University Essays, Prompt by Prompt

Two short answers from Yale, for every first-year applicant:

1. Students at Yale have time to explore their academic interests before committing to one or more major fields of study. Many students either modify their original academic direction or change their minds entirely. As of this moment, what academic areas seem to fit your interests or goals most comfortably? Please indicate up to three from the list provided.

2. Tell us about a topic or idea that excites you and is related to one or more academic areas you selected above. Why are you drawn to it? (200 words or fewer)

So, the first is straightforward, on purpose. Just… indicate… which areas light you up the most? Cool. The next part is where things get interesting. And there’s a giant clue in the prompt to help you nail this, but you gotta look carefully…

Yale assumes (as they should) that your interests will evolve, and probably change altogether. That’s their hope anyway. After all, they’re not a trade school, taking your proficiency in one thing, and advancing it along an exact, fixed trajectory. If they do their job correctly, by exposing you to different types of students from different walks of life, who have different perspectives, along with a wide array of courses and activities … they hope that that will all sum up to blowing your mind. The whole point is to expand your horizons until you’re poised to pursue… anything, even if it’s different from what you thought it might be back when you were a senior, applying.

So, why go through all that? Because the key is to sell them on the significance of your interest, even more than on your interest in the areas themselves. What’s the underlying itch that interest is scratching? That’s what we wanna learn more about: the part that persists even if that surface interest were to look a little different in a few years. When you talk about your interest in Global Affairs or Cognitive Science or Music or … whatever… you need to talk about it abstractly enough that were your “subject” interests to change, your ultimate reasoning stays intact, because the itch can be applied to many things, the itch is “scalable.” What they really need to be convinced of is that your interest in learning writ large won’t flame out.

And the old “Why Yale?” question? Gone. Yale dropped it completely this cycle, and its admissions officers asked applicants not to squeeze a “why Yale” into other parts of the application either. Their take: connecting the dots between you and Yale is THEIR job. Yours is to tell them about you.

Applicants submitting the Coalition Application or Common Application will also respond to the following short answer questions, in no more than 200 characters (approximately 35 words):

1. If you could teach any college course, write a book, or create an original piece of art of any kind, what would it be?

Give us the blurb or catalogue entry for your project. When we say “blurb” we mean to explain it in terms like “course/book/art will examine BLAH BLAH.” Some advice: make sure what you're proposing doesn't already exist? You especially want to avoid talking about a course here that is already taught at Yale. Also, make sure your project would be of interest and value to someone other than yourself. A very cool version would be something that seems fresh but also obvious, where we go “Wow, of course, sold.” Given that we don't have space to explain in detail, ideas that require detailed explanation need not apply.

2. What is one aspect of yourself that you hope to grow or develop during college?

The new kid on the block, and the folks in Yale’s admissions office have been unusually candid about it. They built this question to keep one sliver of the retired “why Yale” (your excitement about how you might grow in college) and cut the rest. So this is NOT a sneaky why-Yale. Skip the professors, the residential colleges, the course catalog. As one officer put it, “we want to hear about you.”

Read the wording closely. It says “one aspect,” with no “most important” anywhere, so it can be big (learning to lead people who disagree with you) or small (finally cooking something besides ramen). And it says “during college,” which means it’s about you, wherever you land. What matters is honesty, and showing you know you’re not arriving fully formed. Yale says that openness to growth is something it’s actively looking for.

With 35 words, keep the recipe simple: the aspect itself, plus a quick flash of WHY it matters to you right now. Where you are today, where you want to get. That’s it.

3. What is something about you that is not included anywhere else in your application?

This prompt by nature will be very unique to you and your application. The key idea here is to remember that this question is not a garbage bin. Don't throw something in here that didn't earn its place anywhere else, just to be comprehensive. This is not the place to include "I did debate in freshman and sophomore year but quit because I wasn't good at it." If an extracurricular doesn't merit more than 35 words, it probably doesn't need to be on your application at all.

Instead, focus here on FUN. This short answer might be too short to explain an achievement of yours. It’s plenty of room, though, to convey some aspect of your personality and sense of humor. Being funny is no joke: being an adcom member can be very boring work. A single chuckle is worth at least 50 points on the SAT.

Learn more and explore each step of Yale’s undergraduate application process here.